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View Full Version : Pure lead OK for .38 spl?



ghh3rd
02-02-2009, 02:10 PM
I have a 33 lb chunk of pure lead. If I mix this equally with wheel weight lead, would it be hard enough to shoot from my .38 snub without fouling?

Thanks,


Randy

Black Jaque Janaviac
02-02-2009, 02:17 PM
I would think pure lead would be fine for .38spl. Usually tin is added to help castability so it will fill out the mold better.

I can get straight ww to work in .38spl loads but I'm thinking of cutting it with pure lead like you suggest to soften it up a bit. There is such a thing as an alloy that is too hard, especially when shooting low pressure rounds like .38spl.

Poygan
02-02-2009, 02:29 PM
Randy, I think it depends on what you are planning to cast. A .38 WC should be fine with this mix. I would guess a standard load in a 158 grainer would be OK as well. A gas check boolit would also work without leading if you wanted to go to the extra trouble and expense. I'd probably go that route only if all else fails. Part of this will also depend on the pistol itself...smoothness of bbl, number of rounds previously fired, etc.

ghh3rd
02-02-2009, 02:30 PM
I've head of dropping hot bullets into very cold water to harden them. Perhaps after mixing 50/50 I could try that to add some of the hardness back. I wonder how far into the bullet water dropping hardens? Would sizing remove the extra hardness in the places that were actually sized?

Randy

Old Ironsights
02-02-2009, 02:49 PM
The 38SP LCWCHP+P sold by Winchester is about as close to Pure as makes no odds... I think it may even be swaged.

I cast some 358156 HPs out of Pure for use in Catsneeze/low vel loads. Mushrooms nicely even when moving slow.

AZ-Stew
02-02-2009, 04:07 PM
The commercial swaged .38 bullets sold by Speer and Hornady (RN, SWC, WC and HBWC) are very close to, if not actually, pure lead. They're made for low-velocity loads. As long as you're using a good lube and have your boolits sized to fit the chamber mouths of your revolver cylinder, any reasonable .38 Spl. load should work fine with a pure lead cast boolit. By reasonable, I mean a load that develops 750-850 fps from a 4 inch barrel. You'll get good accuracy and little, if any, leading.

Regards,

Stew

ghh3rd
02-02-2009, 04:17 PM
Thanks - I feel more comfortable using softer bullets in my .38. I may still put just a few pounds of WW into the mix, along with a little extra tin, and drop into cold water.

Randy

Old Ironsights
02-02-2009, 04:48 PM
IIRC Water Quenching really doesn't help with pure pb... It's gotta have some tin/antimony for Quenching to help harden it.

ghh3rd
02-02-2009, 05:10 PM
Old Ironsights - thanks, I'll skip that step.

ghh3rd
02-02-2009, 08:51 PM
Coincidentally I just scored my first pail of lead tonight - $10 for a 3-gallon bucket. When I dumped it out, it looks like about half stickons, half clip ons. So, I guess I'll melt it all together and see how it works in the .38.

Randy

Firebricker
02-03-2009, 12:06 AM
you might want to get some 50/50 solder for the tin to sweeten the pot. i use a lot of straight ww for my 38 loads how much velocity are you loading for ?

ghh3rd
02-03-2009, 12:54 AM
I don't know how much velocity... probably light loads for the range. I've got a 1 7/8 barrel. I am casting 148gr wadcutters that will be tumble lubed in Alox.

I heard that with low pressure .38 loads you could actually get by with pure lead, if it's lubed well. I do have two 1 lb rolls of actual "Tin Foil" that was used for something in the dental appliance industry.

Randy

Black Jaque Janaviac
02-03-2009, 11:06 AM
Ghh3rd,

I would go for whatever is the simplest and not worry about lead being too soft. For your purposes you're more likely to have something too hard (and get leading).

The problem with mixing alloys is trying to maintain consistancy. Mixing 50/50 pure Pb & WW means you have to have equal parts of both on hand. You have to make this judgement based on how easy both are to come by.

What I have done was to develop WW loads for all my cartridge guns & save the pure Pb for muzzle loader balls. That's because WW were easier to come by and I shoot up more lead from the cartridge guns than I do muzzle loaders.

jonk
02-04-2009, 10:08 AM
Well I load some with blackpowder for kicks with pure lead.

All about pressure and speed. If you don't go fast it should behave as nicely as it does with black powder.

Boerrancher
02-04-2009, 08:22 PM
Randy,

My favorite alloy is a 50/50 mix of pure and WW. I push it to around 2300 fps in some of my rifles with a gas check, and get no leading. As has been stated hard boolits will get you leading faster than soft ones in many cases. The alloy has to be malleable enough to fit the bore and conform to the minor imperfections that you and I can't see, in order to seal. A hard boolit will not always do this and allow gas to blow by giving you leading. The only way you will get leading with a soft boolit, is if the pressure is high enough to cause the boolit to jump the riflings, or literally shear off lead in the grooves.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch